For blue water and colorful fish, head offshore

Tuesday

Jul 23, 2013 at 12:05 PM

Catches bountiful out at sea

By Capt. Rick CrosonBeachScene@StarNewsOnline.com

Offshore fishing means getting far enough from the green inshore water to see the deep blue of Gulf Stream influence. We have a great offshore fishery and early summer means migrating pelagic species rule the deep. Boats traveling offshore need to go 45 to 60 miles offshore to reach consistent blue water, and this will be from 130 feet of water to the edge of the continental shelf, which drops off rapidly from 180 feet to 300 feet. Once you have located the right water, from 73 to 80 degrees, you will need to look for something that will concentrate fish. In the deep you can look for structures on the bottom that might hold bait or you may find a weed line, temperature change or in some cases a water color change, all of these will be where bait and predators converge. Once you find a good place to start, there are a couple of productive ways to catch fish. Trolling is the most common, where you move the boat at a speed from 5 to 7 knots and pull baits or lures behind the boat, most commonly bait will be ballyhoo either naked or with a skirt in front and lures can be from Drone spoons to lures made from acrylic with a squid skirt attached. You can also drift and throw lures like poppers or vertical jigs to attract pelagic. The species list is impressive for our section of the coast with meat fish such as mahi-mahi, wahoo, blackfin and yellowfin tuna and billfish such as sailfish, blue and white marlin making up the majority of active predators. Whether you are on a charter or private boat, you will be treated to cobalt blue water and fish with color patterns you have to see to believe.